PASSINGS: Dev Anand, Larry Rickles

Bollywood star Dev Anand, 88, a charismatic and flamboyant fixture of Indian films for more than half a century, died Saturday of a heart attack in a London hotel, his family said.

Within a few years of his 1946 screen debut in the Hindi-language film "Hum Ek Hain," the actor was considered a superstar. With his movie-star looks and a melodious voice, he experienced great success as a romantic lead.

As the star of "Baazi," he helped introduce noir-style crime movies to India in 1951. The movie led to a number of similar films and an enduring public fascination in the country with the genre.

Anand began producing in 1949 and made his directorial debut in 1971 with "Hare Rama Hare Krishna," a hippie cult film in which he also starred. Another hit film, 1965's "Guide," was a love story about a single man and a married woman — an extremely taboo subject at the time.

He released his latest film, "Chargesheet," a few months ago.

"Dev Anand was a great artist who entertained generations of cinema lovers over five decades," India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, said in a statement. "He was an embodiment of long passion for acting and filmmaking."

The son of a lawyer, Anand was born Sept. 26, 1923, in what is now Pakistan. He studied English literature and law, and in his early 20s moved to India's film capital of Mumbai, then called Bombay, and pursued acting.

In his 2007 memoir, "Romancing With Life," he underlined his belief in making socially relevant films.

Larry Rickles, 41, who received an Emmy Award in 2008 for co-producing "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project," an HBO documentary about his father, died Saturday in Los Angeles from complications of pneumonia, said family spokesman Paul Shefrin.

Born in Los Angeles on May 12, 1970, Rickles started his career working in production on a number of network sitcoms. After participating in a writing workshop at Warner Bros., he joined the long-running CBS sitcom "Murphy Brown" as a writer in 1997.

When Rickles proposed making "Mr. Warmth," his father initially rejected the idea because the comedian did not like to film his act, the Albuquerque ( N.M.) Journal reported in 2008.

"In a magical moment, it all came together," the elder Rickles, who also earned an Emmy for performing in the documentary, wrote in his 2008 book, "Rickles' Letters." "The fact that it's a father-and-son project makes it one of the highlights of my life."

In addition to his father, Rickles is survived by his mother, Barbara, and his sister, Mindy.